1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to hydrocarbon production in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for locating a fracturing plug within a well.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of hydrocarbon production, hydraulic fracturing or “fracing” is a process of stimulating a hydrocarbon producing well by fracturing the surrounding rock with a hydraulically pressurized fluid of water, sand and chemicals. During fracing it is commonly necessary to isolate each zone so as to only provide the pressurized fluid and sand to the desired location within the well. This is due to the potential for the well to be quite long and therefore the pumping and material required to therefore frac the entire well string would be too large.
One common method of splitting the well up into the manageable zones is to provide a plug below the zone to be fraced and thereafter perforating the well bore liner in that zone with an explosive or the like. Thereafter the pressurized fluid and sand may be pumped to that location to perform the frac. This process may be repeated in successive steps upward from the bottom of the well to successively frac each zone that is desired. One conventional type of plug is a ring or seat which may be engaged upon the interior of the well bore. Thereafter a ball may be dropped to be engaged upon the seat so as to seal the wellbore.
Current difficulties with conventional seats are the complicated number of components which are utilized to both engage the interior of the wellbore and seal the seat thereto. Additionally, common conventional seats also have a limited pressure which they can withstand due to the limited grip such seats have upon the wellbore wall. Furthermore, conventional seats are commonly required to be milled out of the wellbore after completing the fracing process due the restriction of the wellbore through the seat.